A Sabbath Day's Journey

By: Rev. Paul Landgraf

What is a Sabbath day's journey? First of all, it is a Jewish expression. We measure distances in meters or yards. The Jews had a certain distance that they could walk on Saturday before it would be considered work. So their synagogues that they went to on Saturday could not be very far away. The word appears only in Acts 1:12 and indicates a distance of about three-quarters of a mile.

With that in mind, I think it is important to remember the origins of Christianity. Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'. Much of the Old Testament has a literary structure that we are not aware of because of our modern emphasis on chapter and verse divisions. Within many of these blogs, I try to get the reader to see a bigger picture, a larger perspective that often includes the Old Testament and the environment that was present when the New Testament was seeing the Light of the day.

Second, a Sabbath day's journey is intentionally short. These 'journeys' with a text, almost always one of the three readings for that Sunday, are deliberately brief discussions. This blog was never designed to be a comprehensive look at any text. Sometimes a specific word is studied in detail. But, as a whole, a blog entry, by itself, is meant to be quite brief.

Finally, since the term 'Sabbath day's journey' appears in Acts, it is meant to appeal to a wide variety of people. This blog is meant for those who cannot come on Sunday mornings. And it is also for those who do come on Sunday mornings but would also like a further study of the text. It is also for those who live somewhere else in the world (besides Drake and Freedom, Missouri, USA) and would simply like a further study of the text. It was meant to get these different groups of people to start thinking about the biblical texts. Part of the reason for this blog is that I am not able to have a bible class on Sunday mornings with either congregation, and so, to have a blog like this seemed like a good idea. I hope it is helpful for you, in whatever situation you may be.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. And thank you for taking the time to read this!

This Sunday is extremely special. Since February 2nd is on a Sunday, and February 2nd is the fortieth day after Christmas, this Sunday we celebrate ‘The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord’. It is a significant festival that points to Christ, and so it takes over the readings for the Sunday. The gospel text is from the only place where we know that visit to Jerusalem happened, in the Gospel according to Luke [2:22-32].

With the ‘Presentation of Our Lord’, there is the presentation of Jesus into the temple. This is a special visit to a special place by a special person. And you probably know that something special is going to happen.

Simeon ends up saying some very special things. I would like to focus on basically just one word that he says: face. That word, unfortunately, does not end up in the ESV. The following is a more literal translation: ‘My eyes saw your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all the peoples (verses 30-31).’

It is interesting that the word ‘face’ does not even appear in some ancient manuscripts. Why? It seems that the writer liked to describe being ‘before’ someone, rather than use a reference to ‘face’. He uses that other way in Luke 1:15 (‘he will be great before the Lord’), 1:17 (‘and he will go before him’), 1:19 (‘I am Gabriel, the one standing before God’), 1:75 (‘in holiness and righteousness before him’), and 1:76 (‘he will go before the Lord to prepare his ways’; these translations are also very literal). So, it makes sense that one would expect him to use the word ‘before’ as he did before.

In the previous verses, he was even talking about God or a person, and both of those things have faces! But now, he chooses to say that there is a face ‘of all the peoples’. This is the more difficult reading, the one you would not expect, and, therefore, probably the original reading.

Why was it important for him to say that there was a face of all the peoples? That is a difficult perspective to have. We usually attribute a face to ourselves, and we may attribute a face to God, but we usually do not attribute a face to all the peoples.

With this phrase, and given the way that the writer used similar words before this, I cannot help but think of the word ‘gospel’ as it was used in the Old Testament. It was a word that was used when a significant message went from the battlefield to the king (see 1 Samuel 4:17). But it was also used for other things. Essentially it is an important message that goes from one significant place to another. And I believe the writer is saying that the world is a significant place. And Jesus’ arrival is a significant event.

Lest we forget: the world also has a face. That is what we have in the book of Genesis, in the creation account. Talk about a bigger perspective. With this perspective, individualism is not even given a chance.

All peoples are significant. As a whole, they have a face. It is interesting that, when the Lord breathes into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, the Greek translation says that he breathed into his face. The face is an important thing. It is a special thing.​I have probably heard of this before and just forgot, and perhaps you have as well, but I read this week that there are seven parts to a person’s face—seven being a significant number in the bible (two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, and one mouth; see TDNT, volume 6, page 774). That may be another simple reminder of how special we are.